The Cinnamon Bittern is a small (41 cm)
heron colored a uniform rich cinnamon above, whitish buff below, with a
central stripe of dark streaks down the throat and breast and dark streaks
on the flanks. The female is duller and browner. The bill is mostly yellow
and the legs and feet are green. The iris is yellow, and the pupil appears
bar-shaped rather than round as in the Yellow Bittern, a useful field mark
when the wings (black in Yellow Bittern) are not visible.

The Cinnamon Bittern is a shy, solitary
bird of grassy areas, paddy fields, freshwater swamps and reed marshes,
often near human habitations. It is most active around dawn and dusk, but
also feeds in the day, taking fish, frogs, molluscs, insects and
crustaceans. Its nest is a platform of small sticks, reeds and sedges lined
with grasses and dead leaves and placed on a flattened clump of reeds or in
a low tree or bush, usually within a meter or so above water or mud. The
female usually lays 3-5 eggs. The chicks are pinkish chestnut, and can
climb about in reeds at 10 days of age.

The Cinnamon Bittern is a common resident
of Taiwan at low elevations.

References: A Field
Guide to the Birds of China (Mackinnon and Phillipps); 100 Common Birds of
Taiwan
(Wild Bird Society of Taipei); Handbook of Birds of the World Vol. 1